The present invention relates generally to machines for producing a tapered end on a wooden stake, and more particularly to an apparatus for clearing debris from a rotating cutting head while the head is rotating.
Milling a point on the end of a wooden stake may be performed by a task-specific milling machine equipped with an apparatus for feeding an end of a wooden stake axially into a cutting tool which produces a tapered portion on the end of the stake. The cutting tool typically comprises one or two cutting knives held in a fixed position in the tool and angled from the longitudinal centerline of the stake. As the cutting tool is rotated relative to the stake, the knives remove material from the stake to form a pointed end. Openings in the tool allow chips and dust created by the cutting process to move out of the tool where they may be gathered by a dust collection system. A machine of this type is capable of pointing 30-60 stakes per minute.
From time to time, a stake having a flaw will be fed into the machine which may result in the tip of the stake breaking off from the rest of the stake and remaining lodged within the cutting tool. When this occurs, the machine must be stopped and the obstructing tip material removed from the cutting tool. Interruptions in the stake pointing machine operation have a significant impact on machine productivity since it may take a minute or more for the cutting tool to stop rotating, an operator to access the cutting tool area to clear the obstructing material, and return the machine to operation.
It would be advantageous to have a means to clear broken portions of stakes from the cutting tool that does not require the cutting head rotation to be halted while a human operator manually clears the obstruction. Additional benefit could be derived if the means included provisions to improve the efficiency of chip and sawdust transport away from the cutting area and out of the cutting tool for collection by the facility dust collection system. Such an improvement would result in lower operating temperatures for the knives and extended sharpening intervals. Still further benefits would be realized if actuation of the clearing means is synchronized with the stake feed mechanism so that the stake pointing machine would automatically clear any obstructions in the cutting tool each time a stake is pointed.